The Thief's Item
by Asrimal
Summary: In the past, the thief king created a sennen item in the way of the pharaoh's priests. The item was created, but something happened, something that the thief king did not expect. This is the story of that item.
1. Prologue

The Pharaoh's palace, Ancient Egypt, a tall man cloaked in heavy robes walked through the halls. His skin was a dark tan and his hair was long and black, across his narrow features was a black eye patch covering the space where his right eye once was. His sword and scabbard clinked against his thigh as he walked. The young man's remaining eye darted about, seeing a figure in the shadows of a pillar, he reached into his robes and drew his sword, a long, curved, wide-bladed weapon ending in a sharp point at the meeting of the wide curve. He pointed the sword at the intruder and took on a commanding tone,  
  
"Show yourself!" he bellowed.  
  
The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a tall, tanned, white haired male with a large scar on his right cheek, the male's brown eyes studied the guard and he smirked. His long white robes rustled as he spread his arms, a glint of gold visible for a moment underneath them,  
  
"Stop the facade," he said coldly, "We know each other too well."  
  
The guard nodded and lowered his sword,  
  
"That we do, Thief King," he said with a dark voice, "What is it that you want?"  
  
"You are aware of the items created to contain the power of the Shadow Games?"  
  
"Yes, why?"  
  
"My forces have procured the instructions of their creation, and a former priest of the Temple joined me several moons ago,"  
  
"Go on..."  
  
"He is willing to make a single item, and we need someone to bear it, specifically you,"  
  
"Me? Why not you?" The guard asked.  
  
The thief reached into his robes and withdrew a pendant on a long cord, five points hanging from the main pendant,  
  
"I don't need it, I have my own,"  
  
The guard's eyes widened and he gasped,  
  
"That's Priest Mahaado's item!"  
  
"It was his item! It was until I killed him!" the thief said laughing loudly.  
  
The guard smiled but secretly he was afraid of the thief, anyone who could kill a high priest of the Temple was someone to be feared and respected. It was because of that fear that the guard accepted the thief's offer, and so the item was created and the guard was presented with it, a wide bracelet with a weaving design situated around the carving of an eye, the guard seemed to grow more and more cruel with the intruders that he captured, where he used to behead them immediately, he now tortured them for days at a time. Slowly, the guard's mind deteriorated to the point of insanity and he killed himself, burying the blade of his sword into his belly. Several months later, the pharaoh's army crushed the thieves and the war began. 


	2. Chapter 1 The Thief

A young man walked through the dark streets of Domino City; his long black hair was tied back into a loose ponytail, his brown eyes, framed by small silver colored glasses darted about the street gazing at the shadowed buildings. His slim form was clothed in a white cotton short sleeve shirt and dark blue denim pants and sneakers. A curious object, a bracelet with a weaving design surrounding an eye, adorned his wrist.  
  
The young man gasped and cupped his forehead in pain as he stumbled to lean against a building, his vision jumped in and out of focus as the sennen item began to take over his body. He slid down the building's brick wall to the filthy street beneath him even as he desperately clawed at his wrist, trying to remove the item with little success, leaving long bloody scratches in his flesh. Soon it was all over and the young man collapsed from the strain on his body, he gazed hazily at the item on his wrist before falling unconscious.  
  
When the young man awoke, he was in a hospital bed. He glanced around and noticed a pale young man with long white hair sitting in a chair nearby, head bowed.  
  
"Excuse me?" the young man ventured, "But who are you?"  
  
The other young man looked up and broad smile on his face, his eyes closed.  
  
"My name is Ryou Bakura, I found you in the street last night and brought you here, I hope you don't mind." He said cheerfully.  
  
"No, I don't mind, thank you," The bed-ridden man said smiling, "My name's Akira Kazuki."  
  
Ryou smiled and opened his brown eyes, his smile turning into a smirk as his eyes narrowed. He reached out and wrenched Akira's arm out from underneath the thin hospital sheets. He growled and pointed at the sennen item on his wrist,  
  
"Now that we're introduced, you can tell me what this is!" He demanded in a cold tone.  
  
At Ryou's actions the sennen item began to glow with an unnatural light, as the light faded, Ryou was me with a pair of eyes as cold as his own. Akira lifted his other arm and grasped Ryou's arm, his nails digging into the other man's arm.  
  
"Well now, Thief King, you don't recognize it? After all, you created it," he said darkly.  
  
"You!" Ryou said as he stood up and backed away from Akira after freeing himself.  
  
"You betrayed me, you deceiving serpent! You let me fall into a downward spiral of insanity and eventual suicide! I should have killed you and fed you to the crocodiles!" Akira bellowed standing up, revenge and hatred burning in his eyes as he approached Ryou, fists clenching.  
  
Ryou simply smirked and buried his left fist into Akira's gut, his right hand wrapping around his throat as he spun and pinned him to the wall behind him.  
  
"Let's get one thing straight, what happened back then was completely unexpected. Yes, we expected a few things to go wrong, but nothing of this magnitude." The thief said angrily, nearing his face to the guard's.  
  
"Liar," The guard spat.  
  
The thief buried his fist harder into his opponent's belly, growling.  
  
"Unless you want me to harm your host beyond all repair, I suggest you believe me," he snarled.  
  
The guard bowed his head and nodded.  
  
"Now then, we both know that your item is not a true sennen item, correct?" The thief asked.  
  
"Yes,"  
  
"And you are aware of the game Duel Monsters?"  
  
"Yes, my host plays it, why?"  
  
"It is the reincarnation of the Shadow Games."  
  
"I had a feeling that it was, it is very similar," The guard said with a smirk.  
  
Ryou smiled and released the guard, he laughed loudly.  
  
"Good! Good! What would you say to me if for a small favor, I could undo all that was done to you in the past?"  
  
"Would I remain as I am now? Requiring a host to survive?"  
  
"Yes, but the item's corruption of your host's mind will end,"  
  
"Tell me what to do,"  
  
And so the thief explained that he required the Sennen Puzzle and it's powers to remove the item's corruptive nature. The guard nodded in agreement as Ryou finished his explanation.  
  
"So all I need to do is defeat the current bearer of the Puzzle in a duel and take the item from them?"  
  
"To put it simply yes, but it will not be so easy. First of all, the current bearer is the reincarnation of the pharaoh and he will not give up the item easily. Secondly, the pharaoh takes over his reincarnation's body via the item during duels, making it even harder to take the item." The thief said, "Trust me, I've tried."  
  
"Very well then, if there's nothing else?" The guard said preparing to leave the room.  
  
"Actually, there is something else. Rumor on the street is that a new tournament will begin within a few weeks; you and I will both enter it and we will make our way to finals. That is when we strike."  
  
The guard nodded and spat in his hand, the thief did the same and they shook hands. The thief and guard both relinquished control to their hosts, both young men looked at each other and collapsed due to the mental and physical stress placed on them. 


	3. Chapter 2 Akira's Duel

Two weeks had passed since the ancient thief's proposal and in a worldwide announcement; Industrial Illusions announced a tournament to commemorate their fifth anniversary. The 4-part tournament would take place all over the world, starting in Domino City and ending in Egypt, the venues in between would be announced as one leg ended and another began. The dueling system was to be the duel disk system, donated by Kaiba Corporation. If a duelist lost a duel, their disk deactivated and could not be used again, the top twenty duelists from the first leg would go the second leg, the top ten duelists from the second leg would go the third leg and the top five from the third leg would compete for the championship in the final leg in the sands of Egypt.  
  
Two days after the announcement, Ryou was wearing a tight black short sleeve shirt, blue denim pants and sneakers. The Sennen Ring was on a cord around his neck, tucked beneath his shirt. Akira wore a black duster coat overtop a white cotton short sleeved shirt and faded blue denim pants and sneakers. The Sennen Bracelet was hidden beneath his coat's sleeve. Ryou and Akira met outside a shop selling the duel disk system; they nodded in greeting and went into the shop to purchase their respective systems.  
  
"I will watch your first duel just to make sure that you can handle your end of our deal," Ryou said coldly, walking off before Akira could respond.  
  
The next day the tournament began and Akira walked along the streets seeking out a duel, knowing full well that Ryou was tailing him. Soon, he found a duelist and he stopped directly in front of him.  
  
"You, duel me," he demanded harshly.  
  
The young man looked up, his black hair covering dark blue eyes,  
  
"Very well, prepare to lose," he said standing up and smiling before walking a distance away from Akira, "My warrior deck shall crush you, and you will always remember the name Atrieu Matrin!"  
  
"That is yet to be determined," Akira said with a smirk as he shuffled his deck and placed it into its slot.  
  
Atrieu did the same and the holographic projectors launched from the disks and activated. The life points went up to eight thousand and the two duelists drew their hands. Akira went first; he placed two cards face down in the magic and trap field and set one monster face down in defense mode.  
  
"I play two cards face down and one monster face down in defense mode, I end my turn." Akira said smiling.  
  
Atrieu drew and placed one card face down in his magic and trap field and summoned Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) in face up attack mode. The monster appeared on the field in a flash of light and Atrieu smirked,  
  
"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode and attack your face down monster!"  
The face down monster, which was Ryu-Kishin (1000/500), was destroyed and sent to the graveyard, but before Atrieu could end his turn, Akira pressed a button on his disk, flipping up a trap card.  
  
"I activate Solemn Wishes, I gain 500 life points every time I draw a card," Akira said smugly as Atrieu finished his turn.  
  
Akira drew a card and his life points rose to 8500. He smiled and flipped his other face down card up, Graceful Charity; he drew three cards and discarded two cards, his life points rising to 9,000. He set a monster in defense mode, placed one card face down in his magic and trap field, and ended his turn. Atrieu placed one card face down in his magic and trap field and attacked Akira's face down card. The card, Trial of Hell (1300/900), was destroyed and Atrieu ended his turn. Akira drew a card and his life points rose to 9,500, his eyes brightened and he laughed loudly.  
  
"I remove three fiend-type monsters from my graveyard from play to summon Dark Necrofear!" (2200/2800)  
  
Atrieu's eyes widened as the creature attacked his monster bringing his life points to 7600 as well as destroying the monster. Atrieu drew his card and shook his head still in shock that Akira could summon such a powerful monster so soon in the duel. He placed one monster face down in defense mode and ended his turn. Akira laughed loudly and brought his life points to 10,000. He placed a monster face down in defense mode and ended his turn. Atrieu drew a card and flipped Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) face up in attack mode and attacked Akira's face down monster.  
  
"Ha! You've destroyed Marie the Fallen One! Now that she's in the graveyard I will gain 200 life points during each of my standby phases!" Akira said laughing loudly as Atrieu's turn ended.  
  
Akira drew a card and his life points rose to 10,500 before rising again to 10,700. Akira smiled and played one magic card.  
  
"I play Change of Heart to take control of your Warrior Dai Grepher and now I'll tribute your monster to summon Dark Ruler Ha Des in attack mode!" (2450/1600)  
  
Akira laughed as he placed Mystic Plasma Zone in his field magic card slot, raising his monsters attack points by 500 and decreasing their defense by 400. He chuckled as he attacked Atrieu directly for a total of 5650, lowered Atrieu's life points to 1950 and ended his turn. Atrieu drew a card and placed one monster face down in defense mode, ending his turn. Akira laughed loudly and destroyed the face down monster, Armaill (1700/1300), with Dark Necrofear and won the duel with Dark Ruler Ha Des. Atrieu sank to his knees as the holograms faded and his life points sank to 0. Akira laughed as he watched his opponent's reaction to loss, before turning and stalking into the crowed to meet up with Ryou.  
  
"Very entertaining duel, you will do well," Ryou said with a laugh as he shook his head, "Your deck is impressive, very formidable. See you later!"  
  
Ryou turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Akira to stare at the white-haired young man's back. 


	4. Chapter 3 Ryou's Duel

After witnessing Akira's duel, Ryou walked through the city looking for a duel, luckily for him, the duel came to him. After a few minutes of searching a tall, older man approached him.  
  
"You, Boy," he said.  
  
"Yes?" Ryou asked as he looked up and smiled.  
  
"Duel me,"  
  
Ryou stood and nodded, walking a distance away from the man, he turned and slid his deck into his duel disk as the hologram projectors activated and both duelists drew their hands.  
  
The older man went first as he placed two cards face down in his magic and trap field and placed D. Human (1300/1100) on the field in attack mode. Ryou drew a card and placed Dark Titan of Terror on the field in attack mode, but it was sent to the graveyard immediately due to his opponent's Trap Hole card. The older man smiled and drew a card he flipped up the Ookazi lowering Ryou's life points to 7200, before attacking his life points directly for 1300 and lowered his life points again to 5900. Ryou smiled and set one monster in defense mode and ended his turn. The older man drew a card and attacked Ryou's face down card and the card, Ryu- Kishin, was sent to the graveyard. Ryou drew a card and set a monster in defense mode and placed The Dark Door on the field. Now neither of them could attack with more than one monster a turn, with that he ended his turn. His opponent drew a card and sacrificed D. Human for Amphibian Beast (2400/2000), which attacked Ryou's face down Dark Titan of Terror (1300/1100) and destroyed it. Ryou drew another card and placed it into his magic and trap field before removing three fiends from his graveyard from play, summoning Dark Necrofear to the field in attack mode and ending his turn.  
  
The older man laughed as he attacked Dark Necrofear and destroyed it, lowering Ryou's life points 5700 and ended his turn. Ryou smirked and placed Dark Sanctuary into his field magic slot and flipped up the trap card Ouija Board and a Ghost holding a D appeared, as the castle appeared behind him and the area around them changed to a red mist, eyes appearing in the mist. His opponent drew a card and placed Gemini Elf (1900/900) on the field in attack mode. As he attacked the monster was possessed by the power of Dark Sanctuary and he was attacked himself for 950 lowering his life points to 7050 and raising Ryou's life points to 6650. Ryou smirked as he drew and placed Spirit Message E and ended his turn. The older man drew a card and placed High Tide Gyojin (1650/1300) in attack mode and ended his turn. Ryou drew and played Pot of Greed and drew two cards, he then placed Spirit Message A on the field as he ended his turn. The older man began to get worried as he drew and placed one card face down on the field and set another monster, ending his turn. Ryou laughed as he drew a card and placed Spirit Message T on the field before playing The Dark Door. He set one monster card face down on the field and laughed as he ended his turn. Ryou's opponent drew a card and passed his turn. Ryou laughed and placed Spirit Message H on the field and won the duel. He laughed as the holograms faded but in the place of the red mist there was a dark fog,  
  
"Say hello to the Shadow Realm for me!" Ryou said as he laughed and his opponent faded into the shadows. He smiled and turned to walk off, leaving his opponent to suffer forever amongst the shadows. 


End file.
